Katia Margolis · Vetro-Pensieri

Vert de Venise Contemporary Art is proud to unveil its new range of Venetian drinking glasses and sculpture designed by Katia Margolis. In this exciting new cycle of work, Margolis joins the time-honoured Murano tradition of contemporary artists working in collaboration with Venetian glassmasters, a concept first pioneered in its modern form by Paolo Venini in the early 20th century. The glasses were made by Diego Vio and the sculptures by Oscar Zanetti, both prominent modern masters. They have perfectly captured and interpreted Margolis's unique vision of the spirit of Venice in the exquisite objects currently exhibited.

The range of drinking glasses is a celebration the traditional Venetian goto, the goblet that each glassworker would make for himself with a unique design so as to distinguish it from the glasses of his fellow workers. Each of Margolis's three goti designs were executed in watercolour and ink and subsequently translated into glass by Diego Vio. Every example is unique, emerging from the furnace with its own personality. The glasses reflect Margolis's painterly preoccupation with the Venetian interplay of water and constantly changing light, fully embracing the alternate opacity and translucency of the medium.

The sculptures had their genesis in Margolis's recent Birth of Venice series of etchings, a cycle in which she developed a uniquely feminine incarnation of the spirit of Venice, a jubilant and slender goddess-like figure dancing on the waters of the Adriatic and the lagoon. Her vision, embodied in her original etchings and watercolour studies, has been masterfully interpreted in glass by Oscar Zanetti, using a meticulously controlled range of colours and textures.